Game processing device

ABSTRACT

A game processing device in a displaying apparatus is capable of receiving a game data from an electronic device outside the displaying apparatus. The game processing device comprises: a transmission interface module, for receiving a game data, wherein the game data is used for rendering at least one game image; and a processing module, coupled to the transmission interface module, for rendering the game image according to the game data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a game processing device, andparticularly to a game processing device that utilizes a graphicprocessor and/or a processor disposed in a displaying apparatus torender game images.

2. Description of the Prior Art

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a prior art game device 10 and adisplaying apparatus 100. The game device 10 is for playing video gameand the display apparatus 100 is used for displaying the game images. Asshown in FIG. 1, the game device 10 includes a graphic processing unit11 for rendering each frame (game image) of the whole game process.After the graphic processing unit 11 renders a game image, the gameimage is temporarily stored to a storage unit 12, and the stored gameimage is then output to the output interface 13 and subsequentlytransmitted to the displaying apparatus 100. When the game image iscomplicated or has a higher resolution, such as 3° D. game image, thegame device 10 needs a powerful graphic processing unit 11 and a storageunit 12 with a large storage space for respectively rendering andstoring the game image. Additionally, since the game device 10 outputs acomplete game image, the total data amount is large and an outputinterface 13 with a large bandwidth and high speed is required.

As techniques improve, the displaying chip in the displaying apparatus100 includes more and more powerful functions, and can even include thegraphic processing function in some cases. The game device 10, however,cannot utilize the device in the displaying apparatus 100 to render thegame image in the prior art, and must comprise the graphic processingunit 11 and the storage unit 12. Accordingly, the cost of the gameapparatus 10 remains high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a gameprocessing device that utilizes a graphic processor and/or a processorof a displaying apparatus to render the game image.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses a game processingdevice in a displaying apparatus. The game processing device is capableof receiving a game data from an electronic device outside thedisplaying apparatus, and comprises: a transmission interface module,for receiving a game data, wherein the game data is used for renderingat least one game image; and a processing module, coupled to thetransmission interface module, for rendering the game image according tothe game data, wherein the processing module at least includes a graphicprocessor and/or a processor of the displaying apparatus.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the game data is from anelectronic device that can be a mobile phone, a PDA or a computer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the game processing devicefurther includes an interface signal transforming device. The interfacesignal transforming device is coupled between the electronic device andthe transmission interface module, and is for transforming a firstsignal format, which is used by the electronic device to output the gamedata, into a second signal format.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the game processing devicecomprises: an interface signal transforming device, for transforming agame data, received from an electronic device, in a first signal formatinto transformed game data in a second signal format, wherein the gamedata is used for rendering at least one game image; a transmissioninterface module, for receiving game data from the interface signaltransforming device; and a processing module, coupled to thetransmission interface module, for rendering the game image according tothe transformed game data; wherein the interface signal transformingdevice and the electronic device are outside of a displaying apparatus,and the transmission interface module and the processing module aredisposed in the displaying apparatus.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a prior art game device anddisplaying apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a game processing deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a game processing deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As techniques improve, TV/display sizes increase, and the TV/displaytherefore has a higher resolution and quality. Modern TVs utilize apowerful graphic processor and a powerful processor to process imageframes of high quality. Accordingly, the present invention provides agame processing device that utilizes the graphic processor and/or theprocessor in the TV to process a game image, such that the game can beplayed on an electronic device or a game device without powerfulprocessing capability.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a game processing deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2,the game processing device 200 includes a transmission interface module201 and a processing module 203. The transmission interface module 201is used for receiving game data GD that includes information related torendering a game image such as: image information of the gamecharacters, background information of the game image, and locationand/or shift information of the game characters. The processing module203 is coupled to the transmission interface module 201 for renderingthe related game images according to the game data GD, wherein theprocessing module 203 is disposed in a display or a TV. In oneembodiment, the processing module 203 can be a graphic processor and/ora processor in the TV. The game processing device 200 can furtherinclude a storage device 207 for temporarily storing game images thatare already rendered or being rendered. The storage device 207 can, forexample, be a DRAM.

In this embodiment, the game data GD comes from an electronic device 20that can be a personal computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant), amobile phone or a game device. Such electronic devices usually have anoperation system such as Linux, thus the game processing device 200 canfurther has a driving program (not illustrated) corresponding to theoperation for controlling the electronic device 20 to transmit the gamedata GD to the transmission interface module 201. The driving programcan be a pre-designed program corresponding to a particular operationsystem. The driving program can also correspond to a plurality ofoperation systems, and the type of operation system in the electronicdevice 20 is detected when the electronic device 20 is connected to thegame processing device 200. Thereafter, a suitable command is providedto control the electronic device 20 to transmit the game data GD to thetransmission interface module 201. Additionally, a suitable drivingprogram can be pre-installed in the electronic device 20, and then thegame processing device 200 can control or communicate with theelectronic device 20 when the electronic device 20 is connected to thegame processing device 200.

In one embodiment, the data and instructions from the electronic device20 are first received by the game processing device 200, and it is thendetermined to which operation system the data and instruction belong to,so that the resource of software or hardware can be assigned. Such anoperation can be executed via the processing module 203, in one example.The mechanism of determining the operation system is well known bypersons skilled in the art and is therefore omitted here for brevity. Itshould be noted that the transmission interface module 201 can beintegrated with the processing module 203, but can also be independentfrom the processing module 203.

Rendering a game image can be executed by the game processing device 200when the electronic device 20 executes the game program. The electronicdevice 20 transmits the game data GD, such as image information of thegame characters, background information of the game image, and locationand/or shift information of the game characters, to the game processingdevice 200. After that, the processing module 203 utilizes the game dataGD to render game images. In other words, the electronic device 20 isonly for the controlling of the game, and the game processing device 200in the TV is for processing the game data GD and then rendering the gameimages. In one embodiment, the game data GD further includes audio data,and the processing module 203 can construct the sound and music of thegame according to the audio data.

According to the above-mentioned description, since the electronicdevice 20 first transmits the game data to the processing module andthen renders the game image, rather than the prior art method thattransmits the game image after it is rendered, the data transmissionamount can be largely reduced. In this way, the transmission interfacebetween the electronic device 20 and the game processing device 200 canbe a transmission interface, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus)interface, a Bluetooth interface, or a Wi-Fi interface. Of course, thetransmission interface between the electronic device 20 and the gameprocessing device 200 can also be a high-speed transmission interfacesuch as an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) or a DVI (DigitalVisual Interface). Therefore, the various transmission interfaces asmentioned above can be applied to the transmission interface module 201to receive game data GD from the electronic device 20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a game processing device 300according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 3, the game processing device 300 includes a transmission interfacemodule 301, a processing module 303, an interface signal transformingdevice 305 and a storage device 307. The operation and the function ofthe transmission interface module 301, the processing module 303 and thestorage device 307 are the same as in the above-mentioned embodiments,and thus details are omitted here for brevity. The interface signaltransforming device 305 is coupled between the electronic device 20 andthe transmission interface module 301, and is for transforming a firstsignal format, which is used by the electronic device 20 to output thegame data, into a second signal format. In one embodiment, the interfacesignal transforming device 305 is for transforming game data GD that istransmitted by the electronic device 20 in USB format into game data GDin transport stream format. Also, in another embodiment, the interfacesignal transforming apparatus 305 is for transforming game data GD thatis transmitted by the electronic device 20 in USB format into game dataGD′ in I²C (Inter-integrated Circuit) signal format. Practically, theinterface signal transforming device 305 can be built in the TV/display,but also can be outside of the TV/display. Additionally, the interfacesignal transforming device 305 outside of the TV/display can be coupledbetween the electronic device 20 and the game processing device 300within the TV/display.

Since a conventional TV/display does not include a USB interface andmost mobile electronic devices only have USB interfaces, the interfacesignal format output from the electronic device 20 can be transformed tothe interface signal format supported by the transmission interfacemodule 303 via the transforming operation performed by the interfacesignal transforming device 305 shown in FIG. 3. The connection betweenthe game processing device 300 and the electronic device 20 is thereforemade possible, and the electronic device 20 can be connected to the gameprocessing device 300 of the TV/display without extra or expensiveconnection interfaces.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the game processing deviceaccording to the present invention utilizes a graphic engine or aprocessor (i.e. a processing module) that is originally disposed in theTV/display to render game images. In this way, the graphic processingunit and a large storage unit are not essential components of the gamedevice, such that the cost for a game device can be significantlydecreased.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the apparatus and method may be madewhile retaining the teachings of the invention.

1. A game processing device in a displaying apparatus, wherein the gameprocessing device is capable of receiving a game data from an electronicdevice outside the displaying apparatus, comprising: a transmissioninterface module, for receiving the game data, wherein the game data isused for rendering at least one game image; and a processing module, forrendering the game image according to the game data.
 2. The gameprocessing device of claim 1, wherein the game data comprises at leastone of: image information of game characters of the game image,background information of the game image, and location and/or shiftinformation of the game characters.
 3. The game processing device ofclaim 1, wherein the game data includes audio data, and the processingmodule generates game sounds and music according to the audio data. 4.The game processing device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device isone of a mobile phone, a PDA and a computer.
 5. The game processingdevice of claim 1, wherein the game processing device transmits acontrol signal to the electronic device for controlling the electronicdevice to transmit the game data to the transmission interface module.6. The game processing device of claim 1, wherein the game processingdevice have a driving program for driving the electronic device.
 7. Thegame processing device of claim 1, wherein the game data is transmittedto the game processing device when the electronic device executes a gameprogram.
 8. The game processing device of claim 1, further comprising aninterface signal transforming device coupled between the electronicdevice and the transmission interface module, for transforming a firstsignal format, which is used by the electronic device to output the gamedata, into a second signal format.
 9. The game processing device ofclaim 8, wherein the second signal format is a signal format supportedby the transmission interface module.
 10. The game processing device ofclaim 8, wherein the first signal format is a signal format supported bya USB interface.
 11. The game processing device of claim 8, wherein thesecond signal format is a transport stream signal format or an I²Csignal format.
 12. The game processing device of claim 1, furthercomprising a storage device, for temporarily storing the game image. 13.The game processing device of claim 1, wherein the transmissioninterface module is one of a USB interface, a Bluetooth interface, aWi-Fi interface, an HDMI interface and a DVI interface.
 14. A gameprocessing device, comprising: an interface signal transforming device,for transforming a game data, received from an electronic device, in afirst signal format into transformed game data in a second signalformat, wherein the game data is used for rendering at least one gameimage; a transmission interface module, for receiving game data from theinterface signal transforming device; and a processing module, coupledto the transmission interface module, for rendering the game imageaccording to the transformed game data; wherein the interface signaltransforming device and the electronic device are outside of adisplaying apparatus, and the transmission interface module and theprocessing module are disposed in the displaying apparatus.
 15. The gameprocessing device of claim 14, wherein the game data comprises at leastone of: image information of game characters of the game image,background information of the game image, and location and/or shiftinformation of the game characters.
 16. The game processing device ofclaim 14, wherein the game processing device transmits a control signalto the electronic device for controlling the electronic device totransmit the game data to the interface signal transforming device. 17.The game processing device of claim 14, wherein the game data istransmitted to the game processing device when the electronic deviceexecutes a game program.
 18. The game processing device of claim 14,wherein the first signal format is a signal format supported by a USBinterface.
 19. The game processing device of claim 14, wherein thesecond signal format is a transport stream signal format or an I²Csignal format.